According to Billboard, Madonna scored 2012’s highest-grossing tour, with a total of 72 sold-out shows raking in $228.4 million. Tonight she wrapped up her MDNA Tour with a performance in Cordoba, Argentina, one of 16 dates not reflected in Madonna’s already impressive haul since they came after the cut-off date.
To honor the Queen of Pop’s coming out on top and her last MDNA stop, Popservations guest contributor Matt D’Auria ranks his top 10 favorite Madonna remixes for a special edition of Saturdance. Get on your feet to celebrate M’s latest feat with his list below.
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I remember hearing Madonna’s 1987 remix album, You Can Dance, for the first time when I was really young. I’m not sure what I loved more, the extended versions of songs I loved or the continuous playback that the record featured. Either way, You Can Dance is what started my love for remixes and DJing.
What’s so great about Madonna’s remixography is that there are so many different remixes to choose from, though some inevitably get lost in the shuffle. My top ten remixes might not include the average Madonna fan’s faves, but I’m attracted to productions that deconstruct the original song and don’t just add some new beats on top of the original vocals. I think that’s why my list leans more heavily on recent productions as technology has helped take music and vocals to a whole new level.
So please indulge me and give them all a listen (loudly). Hopefully you’ll discover some Madonna remixes you may have missed or be inspired to dust off your own 12″ collection to create your own ten-best list.
1. “Express Yourself” (Shep’s ‘Spressin’ Himself Remix)
Not originally released with the first wave of remixes for “Express Yourself,” this incredible mix later appeared as track 4 on the “Justify My Love” maxi single. You can just tell Shep Pettibone was having some fun with this and went balls-out on it. It’s a marathon of Shep’s genius and is still short at 9:34.
I’m a sucker for any mix that showcases Madonna’s vocals acapella. At 2:24, you get to hear Madonna at her best with little to no background instruments. Hearing her intricate harmonies loud and clear is such a treat. Skip forward to 5:27 where Shep has his version of a drum solo and picture yourself on the dancefloor with M and her Blond Ambition dancers.
If you like this remix, check out “Causing A Commotion” (Movie House Mix) and “Up Down Suite,” the B-side to “Rain.”
2. “Drowned World/Substitute For Love” (BT & Sasha’s Bucklodge Ashram Remix)
Relegated to an European release, BT and Sasha’s epic remix of “Drowned World/Substitute For Love” (also clocking in at 9:30) is just pure trance perfection. While I’m not a huge fan of how fast trance beats are, this mix just knocks it out of the park. It would have been a perfect start to the never-completed-but-promised Veronica Electronica remix album that was supposed to have followed 1998’s Ray of Light.
Both somber and uplifting at the same time, the only official remix of “Drowned World/Substitute For Love” deserves recognition for taking the song to the next level. The build-up to “No fire that I can spark” into the chorus (beginning near the 5:50 mark) is insane and should only be listened to a full volume.
3. “Love Profusion” (Headcleanr Rock Mix)
Released on Madonna’s 2003 EP, Remixed & Revisited, “Love Profusion” gets the rock treatment. While not a dancey-remix, this reinterpretation will always be one of my top faves. After seeing M behind her Les Paul for the past five tours, this remix just makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is why this version has never been performed before! I know this song isn’t a huge fan favorite but it works just as well as “Turn Up The Radio” did live with the band on her MDNA Tour.
Major props to Headcleanr for removing the “There are too-o-o-o many options” in the second verse. It just flows better without the stutter and no other remix of this song does that.
If you like this remix, check out “Love Profusion” (The Passengerz Hell’s Kitchen Edit), which was never released but has leaked online.
4. “Let It Will Be” (Paper Faces Vocal Edit)
I will never forget watching the streaming show of Madonna’s Hung Up Promo Tour in 2005 and freaking out over the beats for “Let It Will Be.” I almost died when I got to hear them live at Madonna’s Coachella performance and eventually on the Confessions Tour. Putting the album version he produced to shame, Stuart Price killed it with this crunchy and stomping remix under his Paper Faces moniker.
Arguably once of the best tour versions and performances of her career, “Let It Will Be” is the album-cut show stopper that only Madonna could deliver. A studio version was included on the “Sorry” maxi-single.
If you like this remix, check out “Die Another Day” (Thunderpuss Club Mix).
5. “Deeper & Deeper” (David’s Klub Mix)
Speaking of amazing tour versions, Madonna incorporated this David Morales masterpiece for her 1993 Girlie Show World Tour. Whenever that performance is mentioned, I always start singing, “Deep, deep, deep, deeeeep,” and want to break out my pink feather boa and prance around in high-heeled boots.
Clocking in at seven minutes, Morales gives the already-disco “Deeper And Deeper” an even more funky upgrade. Start at 3:20 and get ready to dance as he nails it and busts out a kick-ass dance breakdown.
If you like this remix, check out the “Deeper & Deeper” Japanese EP that features six remixes, plus five remixes of “Erotica” and a bonus “Bad Girl” extended remix.
6. “Celebration” (Benny Benassi Remix)
When the Oakenfold Dub was released before the original mix of “Celebration,” I was underwhelmed. It was a little too trancey for me. Then came the Benny Benassi Remix (also known as the Video Version). While I admit the production doesn’t stray too far from Benassi’s typical sound, his “Celebration” remix comes at you with the kind of force and urgency that this song needs/deserves/demands.
If the banging cymbal and bass line don’t get you moving, I don’t know what will. I was surprised this version wasn’t the original, and have always wondered what motivated Madonna to use it for the video over Oakenfold’s production.
If you like this remix, check out “Celebration” (Benny Benassi Dub). Unlike most dubs, Benassi gives his a completely different beat to create what’s really an entirely new remix (minus many vocals).
7. “Ray Of Light” (Richie Santana “Tribal Light” Mix)
While not an officially released mix, this incredible 12:25 promo mix is everything that a “Ray of Light” remix needs. Pounding drums, check. Explosive vocals, check. Bongo solo, check. Pulsating circuit party/hands-in-the-air anthem synths, check! It kills me that this mix was only leaked in pretty crappy low-quality. I would love to know why this one got rejected at the time. Perhaps there was only room for one “circuit party” remix and Victor Calderone was in top form at the time so he won out?
I’m in absolute heaven at 7:00, as you can’t go wrong with a bongo breakdown (see: the Drowned World Tour’s version of “Music”).
If you like this remix, check out “Rain” (Razor N’ Guido Twilo Unreleased Remix).
8. “Erotica” (Confessions Tour Remix)
I will never forget being at the opening night of the Confessions Tour and freaking out during “Erotica.” The “You Thrill Me” lyrics appeared in Madonna’s original “Erotica” demo, but not in the final version. They were, however, heard ever so softly in the William Orbit and Bass Hit Dub remixes of the single. So it was great to hear Madonna dig through the crates and take a remix (and live performance) to the next level, giving her hardcore fans who knew the history of the song something to squeal about.
Only commercially released in its live version, it was also available through her ICON fanclub’s short-lived megamix series.
If you like this remix, check out “Erotica” (Ralphi Rosario’s Unreleased Private Mix). Leaked online, Rosario’s remix also contains the “You Thrill Me” demo samples.
9. “What It Feels Like For a Girl” (Calderone & Quayle Dark Side Mix)
One of two of Victor Calderone’s “darker” mixes (the other being the Sensory Remix of “Don’t Tell Me”), his remix of “What It Feels Like For A Girl” with Mac Quayle gives the song a stripped-down yet electronic feel. I always enjoyed this mix because it wasn’t what you were expecting when you saw the name Victor Calderone attached.
It’s always nice to hear something different from a remix, especially when you can tell that thought and care was given to it. I feel the Dark Side Mix is greatly under-appreciated, even though an alternate version was used for a video interlude during the Drowned World Tour that substituted vocals from the song’s Spanish version (“Lo Que Siente La Mujer”).
If you like this remix, check out “What It Feels Like For A Girl” (Stephane Pompougnac Mix).
10. “Give Me All Your Luvin'” (Just Blaze Bionic Dub)
I know I’m going to get flack for this one, but after the horrible EDM-heavy remix package for “Give Me All Your Luvin’,” I was ready to toss the track aside. Then came the MDNA Smirnoff Nightlife Edition, which contained a few bonus remixes from MDNA, including the Just Blaze Bionic Dub of “GMAYL.”
I’m torn as to whether hearing the Just Blaze mix live at the MDNA Tour has affected how I feel about it. The performance is one of Madonna’s loudest and craziest tour moments and the hip-hop beat just works so well with this track. The original remixes sucked the life out of “Give Me All Your Luvin’,” but this remix resuscitated the song. One day I aspire to learn the whole pom-pom routine from the show.
If you like this remix, check out “Hollywood” (Jacques Lu Cont’s Thin White Duke Remix), a kick-ass dub with little to no vocals.
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Matt D’Auria is a Los Angeles-based DJ and true-blue Madonna fan. Be sure to pay a visit to his SoundCloud, which features several of his DJ sets and a few Madonna megamixes (naturally).